A checker is a software module developed for the purpose of verifying the various functionalities of a chip. A checker operates by testing whether, upon providing a predetermined input signal to the chip, the required outputs from the various hierarchical levels of the chip are obtained. However, since the coverage data to be captured by the checker is often temporal by nature, the checkers are usually complex and the building process of the checker itself requires multiple iterations. In addition, because of its functionality, the validation of a checker generally requires a full chip environment. Accordingly, compiling and running a checker is necessarily associated with compiling and running the complete chip model. Thus, developing a correctly functioning checker is difficult and time consuming.
FIG. 1 shows the conventional arrangement of testing a checker 1. After the combined model 2 of the checker 1 and the chip 3 is built, a test case 4 is run to facilitate the test of the validity of the checker 1. The checker 1 will provide a temporal coverage data 5 only if predetermined checker input conditions have been met. The driving signals 7I are chosen so that checker input signals 6 are obtained from different hierarchical modules within the chip model 3, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1. When the test case 4 is run, driving signals 7I and 7II drive the chip 3 and the checker 1, respectively. Respective inputs 6 to the checker are activated when the test case 4 aids the condition in the design of the respective modules in the chip. The input signals 6 trigger the generation of coverage data 5 by the checker 1. Data 5 is generated if each input signal 6 is active at a time corresponding to the time sequence of the driving signals 7I and 7II. However, if no coverage data 5 is generated, no definite conclusion can be made about the functionality of the checker. This is so because the lack of coverage data 5 can be caused by either the test case 4 not satisfying the expected condition or the checker 1 being designed incorrectly. The task of finding the exact cause for the lack of coverage data 5 is time consuming. Hence, it is desirable to develop a faster way of testing the validity of a checker.